Making Way For Floating Mobile Homes

DELTAVILLE — Aqua Lodges, furnished houseboats that sleep 10, can be a home away from home for sea lovers.

A Deltaville marina may have an alternative for those who can't afford expensive waterfront property: a floating cottage of sorts.

While mobile homes inhabit the backwoods and fringes of town, this watercraft proudly rests in a Deltaville bay next to sleek, oceangoing yachts.

Bolt a motor to the stern and the Aqua Lodge cruises at 18 knots, or about 21 mph .

Trans-Atlantic voyages might be for the foolhardy, as the boat is engineered to be affordable rather than rugged. Queen bed, table and appliances come standard. The Aqua Lodge sleeps 10, and a waterslide accessory expedites rooftop-to-water access.

During a recent squall that sent even Deltaville veterans cowering for cover, Flip Eubank said his floating home gently rocked him to sleep.

He and his wife, Gladys, paid $58,900 for their 42-foot vessel, excluding the motor, three months ago at Deltaville's Bay Marine.

Until two years ago, the Eubanks, who are in their 70s, owned a second home on the Deltaville shore.

"We moved into a gated community (in western Henrico County) but realized we missed the water after living on it for 21 years," Gladys said.

They spend most of their weekdays in Glen Allen but head for the houseboat -- which they don't plan on naming -- on weekends.

Linda Koren, of Prince George County, said she needed a place to crash when not on her 30-foot sailboat.

"We just wanted a place that would be more like a home," said Koren, whose "lodge" is docked across from the Eubanks'. "It's nice for one or two nights."

Koren said she plans to motorize her houseboat, but the sailboat will be her primary mode for nautical travel.

Darlene Walden and Barry Miller, business partners at Bay Marine, sell the units and rent slips for $185 a month near their tropically themed restaurant. They've sold five lodges, three of which will be based in Deltaville. They are adding more slips to accommodate an anticipated flotilla.

They say it beats paying $300,000 to $400,000 for waterfront property -- just for the land. Still, houseboats can cost $750,000 or more with accessories.

They have more room than sailboats of the same length because their space is for living, not seaworthiness.

"The Aqua Lodge is not the type of boat meant to take up the waterway," said Steve Smede, editor of Houseboat magazine. "But it's ideal for marinas that welcome liveaboards or at any marina that caters to that dockside-living community."